Lotus F1 Ditches One Historic Alliance For Another As Team Adopts Renault Power

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The Lotus F1 team has historically relied on power from three major engine builders; Cosworth, Renault and Honda. With Honda now out of Formula 1 racing and Cosworth’s powerplants providing unsatisfactory results, Lotus has turned to historic partner Renault for some mechanical motivation.

Starting in 2011, Lotus will use the Renault mills, which currently power the points-leading Red Bull cars, as well as the Renault factory team. The team will also change its name to Team Lotus, which has historical connotations, and connections with the Lotus cars brand.

Lotus and Renault previously partnered in the 1980’s with their iconic Black and Gold John Player Special cars (pictured above), while certain iconic Lotus road cars, like the Europa, could be fitted with a souped-up Renault Gordini motor in place of the Ford twincam.